T.O.W.E

T.O.W.E - Take off with the expectations, like a rocket.

High-Level Project Summary

We developed the explanation of the operation of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in a clear way and in a language suitable for all types of audiences. The explanation of this technology is distributed in several stages in which we expose necessary information, and that meets our objectives, which are: to promote SAR data and to make known how they can affect us and our community as a whole.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://www.canva.com/design/DAErxmRoIG0/lTd81vlHXTUFKmox2EhUhg/view?utm_content=DAErxmRoIG0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Detailed Project Description

Synthetic Aperture Radar is a special type of radar that allows high resolution images to be obtained over long distances, e.g. from space. It works as follows; a SAR satellite forms images from the echoes of electromagnetic signals sent by its antennas, which are waves that do not need a material medium to propagate. They include visible light and radio, television and telephone waves.

These SAR images are used to study the shape and changing properties of the Earth's surface.

SAR has important benefits, as it has diverse applications such as: monitoring forest fires, monitoring and observing floods, understanding earthquakes, obtaining high resolution images over long distances, studying the characteristics of ice and snow and their changes over time, as well as detecting aircraft flying over the earth's surface. It includes land applications such as urban infrastructure monitoring, soil moisture mapping, within agriculture the classification and yield of crops, creation of maps of water bodies and floods. Monitoring of volcanoes (volcanic eruptions), movement of the earth's surface, generation of digital elevation models, monitoring of disturbances (fires or deforestation), monitoring of changes (reforestation), mapping of forests, wetlands of plant biomass. It also includes ocean applications such as sea surface topography, ice monitoring, oil spill monitoring, ocean currents, ship detection and studies the characteristics of ice and snow and their changes over time.

Other applications include crop yields, agricultural pests, human diseases, droughts, desertification.

Provision of useful information in all phases of an emergency, for prevention, early warning, management during the event and recovery follow-up, and support for agricultural products for planting, fertilization and irrigation, and for soybean, corn, wheat and sunflower crops. Improves hydrological risk and emergency management, and enhances hydrological modeling and forecasting capabilities, in order to minimize economic losses due to floods.

We intend as the basis of our project that scientific data should not be for a minority group of people, but to maximize the potential of the data collected by the SARs and that these data should be of benefit to all communities and also to those people who are part of them regardless of their capacity of understanding, faculty or knowledge. With this project initiative we seek to promote inclusion, because we agree that everyone should be part of it and in this way we ensure that everyone has the same opportunities to participate in the aspects of the project. We promote inclusion with the participation of people with hearing and visual disabilities in this type of activities. To carry out this idea, our video will have sign language translation and the possibility of tactile reading and writing system (Braille).

We used as resources data sources extracted from the internet and provided by NASA on the Space Apps website. As a software tool we used the Sony Vegas app for video editing. The graphic material was extracted from YouTube and internet.

Hackathon Journey

The Space Apps experience has been unique and unforgettable. We have acquired extensive knowledge about the topic addressed in the challenge. The inspiration to select a challenge was the creation of a video, because we have knowledge in the creation of audiovisuals for the subject language and audiovisual media studied in high school. Our approach to carry it out was to achieve a video that would catch the viewers, that could be seen by everyone and that would be understandable for that variety.

We solved the proposed challenges by studying the subject and dedicating time; but we still had difficulties that we were able to overcome and reach a solution.

We are cordially grateful to the coordinator Francisco Delgado for being there to clear up doubts and being so kind. And to Laura Morín for her very specific recommendations that were of maximum benefit.

References